A new class of composite materials has recently appeared in the composite art. This new material is graphite fiber reinforced glass. This new material, as described in commonly assigned copending U.S. Patent applications Ser. Nos. 54,098, filed July 2, 1979 now abandoned; 92,168, filed Nov. 7, 1979 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,367; and 135,375, filed Mar. 28, 1980 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,968, has many improved properties such as thermal conductivity, flexural strength, impact resistance, and thermal stability. These materials are generally hot pressed as an admixture of graphite fibers of particular fiber orientation in particular glass. Therefore, there is generally little difficulty in forming this material in any desired shape prior to hot pressing. Furthermore, it is also possible to hot press the intermediately formed composite into the desired design shape. However, for some applications, it is necessary to bond various pieces of these performed, hot pressed composite materials together. Attempts at using conventional bonding materials such as epoxy, while meeting with limited success, are not compatible with the high temperature use some of these composite materials are primarily designed for and particularly adapted to, although for some less strenuous applications, conventional adhesives could be quite acceptable. Other attempts at forming usable bonded composite materials have included utilizing the glass matrix of the composite to effect a bond. Here also, while such attempts have met with limited success, the strength of the bond while adequate for some uses, has proven to be inadequate for the rigorous environments the composite materials are adapted to and were specifically designed for.
One attempt at solving this problem is disclosed in commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 215,282, filed on even date herewith. This application discloses utilizing a glass based composition to bond graphite fiber reinforced glass matrix composites together. While this bonding method works quite satisfactorily, it does require relatively high temperatures, an inert atmosphere and high pressures. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a relatively simple bonding method for fiber reinforced composites, and specifically graphite fiber reinforced glass composites, which provides a bond which maintains the strength and thermal properties of the composite.